Would having less restriction on our desires benefit society?.
In order for a society to successfully function its citizens must be content; if its citizens feel content then the community will prosper and move forward and everyone will have good intentions for themselves and for the people around them. But, in order for a person to feel content they must be given the opportunity to fulfill any desires they might rightfully have as a human being. Before we can address whether or not there should be restrictions on a persons" desires, one must consider the possible outcomes, such as, is a society where its citizens are less restricted on desire happier? Would it be safer? Would the community accomplish more or less in the way of technological, cultural and artistic advances with fewer restrictions on desire? In this paper I will answer these questions based on both my own and Sigmund Freud's views. Freud attempts to define each human as having two basic instinctive desires: one in the form of aggression and the other in the form of love. He believes that sexual and aggressive drives are inborn instincts that each person wishes to act on, but upon which society infringes. .
Freud's theory is that humans thrive for happiness during their life, and these passionate desires are healthy when pursued according to his theories. "What do they demand of life and wish to achieve in it? The answer to this can hardly be in doubt. They strive after happiness: they want to become happy and to remain so." (Pg. 25) Here, Freud illustrates his belief that happiness is man's primary objective in life. He cites sexual love and aggression as examples of happiness, "Sexual love has given us our most intense experience of an overwhelming sensation of pleasure and has thus furnished .
us with a pattern for our search for happiness." (Pg. 33) Freud believes man's desires and tactics are simple, as primitive and basic as those of many animals.